The Smoke: It's Rise
by cib98
Summary: We all know that Maddy, David's mother, started the Smoke. But what was the full story? Who else was involved? Rated T... just incase : Please R&R!


Fegan snapped her fingers, and up against the dark sky, appeared her hoverboard. Even behind Aston's thick rims, Fegan could see his reaction clearly. "No way," Aston backed away, tucking his pale hands behind his back, "Fegan, we can never go back there, not after what happened last time." Fegan replayed last week's adventure into New Pretty Town, and shrugged. "It was no big deal, four-eyes," Fegan gave her friend a heart slug in the arm with his ugly nickname. Fegan reassured him, "That warden wasn't even that mad, and the Pretties were all too drunk to notice anything." Still, Aston shivered as he recalled the warden's angry middle pretty face glaring towards the both of them.

The trick had been Fegan's idea, and Aston had dumbly played along (his mad teenaged crush driving him all the way). Fegan had suggested that instead of just visiting the Rusty Ruins like they always did, they should go into New Pretty Town and get a bottle of champagne. (Fegan had always wanted to try that stuff, and she just couldn't wait three more years.) So, Fegan and Aston had hoverboarded into New Pretty Town, and stolen a bottle of champagne. This wasn't a serious offense, but they had been caught by wardens and given a stern talking-to. Fegan had laughed it off, but Aston had cowered all the way home. Fegan hadn't gotten to try any champagne, but she was alright with it. Because she had her sights set on something else.

Fegan Underwood wanted to find Special Circumstances.

Aston shook his head quickly when Fegan told him, "Special Circumstances? Are you joking?" he had asked her.

"I bet they're headquarters is up on a hoverstation or something," Fegan mused, lost in thought.

"Special Circumstances are just a myth!" Aston argued, grabbing Fegan's attention with the determined tone of his voice.

"No, they're not," Fegan growled, and gazed off into the black expanse of sky, "Now shut up, four-eyes."

Aston struggled to come up with something to say under his hot fury. Fegan had no ugly nickname. She was a natural born pretty. Which was mostly the reason why she had so few friends. Most uglies despised natural-born pretties. Fegan's natural-born pretty face challenged Aston under the glint of the moonlight. Aston's knuckles turned white.

Yes, Aston had a giant crush on Fegan. But yes, sometimes Aston just wanted to crush Fegan's skull. Not that he could, anyways. Aston was about five inches shorter than Fegan, and about three times thinner.

Aston took a deep breath, calming his nerves, and gave in a bit to Fegan. "Okay, so if they did exist, why would you want to find them anyways?" Aston wanted to know.

"I dunno," Fegan shrugged, "Why wouldn't you? It'd be the best trick of the century."

"I don't think that's a very good reason to- Aston began, but Fegan interupted him, "I don't care what you think."

Fegan continued, "I heard they have hoverboards that can travel at the speed of light, and wallscreens that you can walk into!"

Aston crossed his arms and retorted, "And I heard that they have hideously cruel faces that will melt you if you look at them, and they kill people who disobey them."

Fegan laughed, "They'd only kill stupid nerds like you, Aston."

"Which is exactly why I won't be going," Aston declared, and he waved his fingers, signalling his interface ring to show the time. "It's getting late, Fegan." And he turned to go back to his dorms. Fegan grabbed him by the shoulder, and Aston felt a tingling electricity from his fingers. "Have fun sleeping, dork," she teased, shoving him away. With that, Fegan turned and made a dramatic exit off her hoverboard, leaving with a _swoosh__!_, her laughter echoing through the dorm yards.

Fegan jerked right on her board, passing over the dorms, and over greenbelt. She swooped down, and followed the river path to the Rusty Ruins. She laughed out loud as the spray tickled her cheeks as she sped along.

Once she reached the Ruins, she took in a deep breath that reeked of metal and rust. She looked down at the groundcars, and at the building frames, and at the rotting skeletons that lay strewn out about the awkward and narrow streets. As she climbed higher above the Ruins, she could see the expanse of wildlife and trees beyond the ruins. Fegan found herself wondering what it was like in the wild, but didn't waste much time thinking about it. What Fegan really wanted to know, was if Special Circumstances was real. And if they were, what were they? Were they pretties? Uglies? Something inbetween. Or something even more horrid than an ugly, like Aston had said. What did they do?

Fegan rushed down into the ruins, and stepped off of her hoverboard. She climbed unto a rotting groundcar, and rested her head into her hands. Thinking.

That was when she saw it.

* * *

_**Don't worry, Maddy and Az will come into the story later... I promise! (; Please review if you want me to write more. Just take two minutes of your day to let me know how I did :D !**_


End file.
